Teammates stopped to applaud. Some shouted. His mother, Anita, watched and gave thanks.

"I’m blessed," Anita Landry said. "It’s a blessing because it could have been a total opposite. I could have come … to see them pull a sheet from over his head to show me that’s my child. I’m grateful that he’s alive. It’s a blessing."

Landry, 25, was shot in the lower left calf early Tuesday morning near downtown. He was treated and released at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and is expected to be out for one to three weeks.But he said that, so far, he has been sweating and thinking about the incident constantly, while struggling to sleep.

"I could have been dead," Landry said. "The shooter was 10 yards or less away. I’m 6-9 and I had a bright shirt on. I don’t know how he missed, but thank God he did and he hit the lower part of my leg. Yeah, definitely, I could have been dead. And you guys … would be talking about the funeral that you were probably going to go to in a couple of days. I’m blessed and lucky to be alive."

While police continue to investigate the incident, Landry has been asked not to discuss all of the details. He said he went out to eat at about 2:30 a.m., a few hours after the Rockets returned from Monday’s game in New Orleans.

"I was sideswiped once and turned around," he said. "Hit me again on the other side. I ran into a big street light. The car was totaled at the time and I knew something was going on, like they were looking for somebody. Both of the guys got out of the car. I tried to plead my case, saying I’m not the guy they were looking for. But immediately they start shooting. The second shot hit me in the left calf."

Landry said he does not know what was said, but thought the shooting might have been a case of mistaken identity.

"One of the guys, the shooter, mumbled something. I’m not quite sure what they said," Landry said.

"I ran about six blocks. After they fired two shots, one of the guys chased me for about a block. I was able to outrun the shooter and I hid in between a house and a fence. I was so frightened, so I started to knock. I was ringing doorbells like crazy. One person came down and said he was going to call the police. He said he was going to call 911. I saw a cop car drive by about 20 minutes after he said that. I went up to the cop car and they helped me.

"I feel good just to be alive, blessed at the same time. The situation that happened was really scary. It could have happened to anybody. I’m just happy to be here.

"You always see that type of stuff on TV and you hear about it on the newspaper or watch the news, but you never think it can happen to you. It was really scary when the bullets were flying. I’m just glad that it hit me in a place where I could continue to run and get away."

Landry’s agent, Buddy Baker, said in the coming days he would try to determine whether Landry might need counseling. He said he already knew that the incident would change him.

"Going out at 2:30 in the morning is probably not something I’m going to do any more, not only myself, but my teammates," Landry said. "Everybody in the NBA, coaches and players, I’m sure it will have an effect on a lot of people."

For now, however, Landry said he thought of himself as fortunate.

"I was out there in between the fence and the house bleeding to death," Landry said. "My blood was coming. I never bled that much in my life. Blood was coming out of my leg so fast. I was hoping and thanking God that I didn’t pass out. Hey, I’m here and I have a smile on my face.

"I’m always sweating and thinking about it all day, every day. It’s all right. I’m blessed to be here. Things like that, people don’t survive getting shot at sometimes. I’m blessed to be here. Life has to go on."